Rainbow releasing an album and touring North AmericaDon't know if it was already posted?

Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night have expanded the family business a bit for To The Moon And Back: 20 Years And Beyond..., the new compilation by their Renaissance group Blackmore's Night.

The English traditional "Ghost Of John," one of three new songs recorded for the two-disc set and premiering exclusively below, ends with a guest vocal by the couple's six-year-old daughter Autumn -- who's actually responsible for it being recorded in the first place.

"She came home from school one day and she was singing it, and I thought, 'What a great melody,'" Blackmore tells Billboard. "We actually got it from her, and that's why you'll hear her on the record at the end, signing it how she originally sang it to us. It's a very strange song; When you're talking about skeletons with no skin on, of course, it gets a reaction -- usually a kind of a bad reaction. But, y'know, emotions are important in songs."

Blackmore and Night spent time researching the song's history and took some liberties to create a Blackmore's Night version of the song, changing the time signature and arranging it in more of a drone pattern than the intricate chord changes in the traditional version. "There was nowhere to take a breath for the poor singer," Blackmore notes. Autumn, meanwhile, offered her own interpretations of the song during the recording sessions.

"We put her on the microphone and the first take she did was this very big sort of Broadway style and she was belting the whole thing out and we were like, 'No, no, no. Just be you,'" Night remembers with a laugh. "So the next one she did with all these Mariah Carey flares to it, and we said, 'No, no, no, don't do that either.' And finally she said, 'OK, this'll be the simplest take I'm gonna do' and she just did it and it was perfect and we got goosebumps immediately and it was exactly what we were looking for to bring it back to the starting point of what the song was. So it was a perfect moment."

The rest of To The Moon And Back captures the unlikely journey of Blackmore's Night, from the raised eyebrows of Blackmore's Deep Purple and Rainbow following through 10 albums. The set includes a disc of favorites chosen via an Internet poll of fans, plus a selection of re-recorded songs, a new take on "Pomp And Circumstance March No. 1" titled "Land Of Hope And Glory" and a cover of Rainbow's "I Surrender." "It's been very pleasurable," Blackmore says of the couple's Renaissance run. "Trying to pioneer that type of music is always rewarding. I love that type of music. I don't know anybody else that's doing it, really. It doesn't feel very long at all for me. I can't believe it's been 20 years. And it's weird how it did take off. I think if the public sees that you love something so much, they go along with it. One of the quotes we have from one of our fans was 'I don't like Renaissance music but I love your version of Renaissance music,' so that was a big compliment."

Blackmore's Night has more coming this year as well -- an expanded version of its 2006 Winter Carols with a selection of new songs the group has recorded for it.

Blackmore, meanwhile, is also weighing how to balance Rainbow, which he reactivated last year, with Blackmore's Night. Rainbow released a pair of new songs earlier this year and has a third in the can, and the guitarist says a new album is possible as well, lining up some shows by the band in North America.

"It's confusing," acknowledges Blackmore, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Deep Purple in 2016 but declined to attend the ceremony. "The Rainbow thing was a bit of fun that I do every now and again just so I can kind of blast out on the Stratocaster. I knew there were a lot of fans that wanted to hear the old Rainbow songs, so I put it back out there. But I still prefer the music of Blackmore's NIght because it's so far-reaching and the spectrum of musical stuff is so much more vast than being in a rock band. It's music that has always excited me."

Re: Rainbow releasing an album and touring North AmericaNot sure i agree, LIB ... thats pretty selfish of you, you got to see RB Rainbow this and maybe last year too, so you are happy and could not careless?

Thats bad mate.

I got to see RB rainbow last year at Birmingham and also Glasgow this year as well for the come back stuff, on top of that, saw Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in their heyday too, with Ronnie n Cozy and other shows too.

I'm glad our American friends are getting the chance to see Rainbow ... its never going to be like our original days, we have that to cherish, but this is whats happening now, like it or not my friend.

Re:I would LOVE new music, as long as it's properly recorded/produced (full band and no computers, real studio, real producer).
I like the fact that elsewhere RR has said that the tracks they have recorded so far, including the ones that were published, are "demo-like". If they are aware of that, and are willing to correct it, then I like to hear some new riffs from the master, because there will be a few gems here and there and it will be music that no-one else these days plays.
Even DP have strayed away from this kind of songwriting, so happy if the original gives it one more try.

Not sure i agree, LIB ... thats pretty selfish of you, you got to see RB Rainbow this and maybe last year too, so you are happy and could not careless?

Thats bad mate.

I got to see RB rainbow last year at Birmingham and also Glasgow this year as well for the come back stuff, on top of that, saw Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in their heyday too, with Ronnie n Cozy and other shows too.

I'm glad our American friends are getting the chance to see Rainbow ... its never going to be like our original days, we have that to cherish, but this is whats happening now, like it or not my friend.

Hmmm I think you have the wrong end of the stick here katana ??
My post was in response to bagshot saying he's ok seeing them live but not bothered about new music
I didn't go to see them in either Birmingham or Glasgow as I feel the guy is well past his best and I would rather remember him at his best
Don't know what's selfish about that ???
But then I suppose you could say that most decisions we make in life are selfish ?? Is choosing the movie you want to see on the tv selfish ?

Happy to see them live but don't want them to make a new Album.............. that's logical!

Im personally not fussed for either, Ritchie ran out of things to say musically many years ago.

I was meaning that Concrete God was being illogical by saying HE was happy to see them LIVE but didn't want an album by them!!

Personally I don't want to see them live, as I can see all I want or need to via YouTube or their DVD. As for an Album, it might be interesting, but then again it might not.

Blackmore should continue doing his BN stuff, which he clearly has enjoyed and retire gracefully and scrap all this drivel about a "Return to Rock", he simply isn't capable anymore, which is sad, but true. Knowing when to stop is more important than trying to struggle on. The serious fire and passion with Blackmore departed around the time of the Fires At Midnight, some one put the fire out then and it's never been relit since. The odd flicker here and there but essentially it's gone.

Happy to see them live but don't want them to make a new Album.............. that's logical!

Im personally not fussed for either, Ritchie ran out of things to say musically many years ago.

I was meaning that Concrete God was being illogical by saying HE was happy to see them LIVE but didn't want an album by them!!

Personally I don't want to see them live, as I can see all I want or need to via YouTube or their DVD. As for an Album, it might be interesting, but then again it might not.

Blackmore should continue doing his BN stuff, which he clearly has enjoyed and retire gracefully and scrap all this drivel about a "Return to Rock", he simply isn't capable anymore, which is sad, but true. Knowing when to stop is more important than trying to struggle on. The serious fire and passion with Blackmore departed around the time of the Fires At Midnight, some one put the fire out then and it's never been relit since. The odd flicker here and there but essentially it's gone.

Not sure i agree, LIB ... thats pretty selfish of you, you got to see RB Rainbow this and maybe last year too, so you are happy and could not careless?

Thats bad mate.

I got to see RB rainbow last year at Birmingham and also Glasgow this year as well for the come back stuff, on top of that, saw Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in their heyday too, with Ronnie n Cozy and other shows too.

I'm glad our American friends are getting the chance to see Rainbow ... its never going to be like our original days, we have that to cherish, but this is whats happening now, like it or not my friend.

Hmmm I think you have the wrong end of the stick here katana ??
My post was in response to bagshot saying he's ok seeing them live but not bothered about new music
I didn't go to see them in either Birmingham or Glasgow as I feel the guy is well past his best and I would rather remember him at his best
Don't know what's selfish about that ???
But then I suppose you could say that most decisions we make in life are selfish ?? Is choosing the movie you want to see on the tv selfish ?

Completely agree. Never went to either show at Birmingham 16 or 17, although a work mate went to both.
RB had run his course with rock music by the time he formed BN, nothing left to say now.